Aviation in Moldova

On June 1, 1922, the first aircraft (de Havilland DH.9) started on a 410 kilometres (250 mi) long line: Bucharest – Galaţi – Chişinău.

[1] The flights were operated by Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aérienne - CFRNA, later LARES.

At the Chişinău International Airport, at the visitors terrace in the second floor (opened in December 2006), there is a sign remembering the first flight on June 24, 1926.

A 10-passenger Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar-powered Farman F.168Bn4 started in May 1928 to operate the domestic air service Bucharest – Galaţi – Chişinău-Bălţi.

During the year 1940, LARES operated daily the route Bălţi - Chişinău - Iaşi - Galaţi - Bucharest (the air service number 2116).

In the interwar period, among the pilots serving on flights from Chişinău to Bucharest was Constantin Bâzu Cantacuzino.

[5] While Pokryshkin became one of the highest scoring Soviet aces, Heydrich was an unexperienced pilot who never achieved an aerial victory.

[6] On 19 September 1944, the first unit of Po-2 transport aircraft arrived in Chişinău and the Moldovan Squadron of Aeroflot was established.

In 1958, the Civil Aviation Squadron of Bălți (Бельцкая АЭ - Авиационная Эскадрилья) was formed in addition to the Moldaivan Special Aviation Group of the Civil Air Fleet (Молдавская ОАГ ГВФ - Особая Авиационная Группа Гражданского Воздушного Флота)[7] Intra-Soviet flights were operated from Chisinau and from Balti.

The enterprise received status of Civil Aviation Administration in 1965 and new An-10, An-12, and An-24 aircraft expanded its fleet both in Chisinau and in Balti.

In 2013 the Moldovan Authority for Civil Aviation inspected Bălți International Airport and certified its services.